Christmas STEAM
Today we participated in a STEAM morning with a Christmas theme. All of these activities focused mainly on a maths element. Most activities, involved us working with a partner or small group, meaning we had to use skills involving teamwork and communication. We found that listening to our teammates and working collaboratively made us more efficient and our finished products stronger.
- Activity 1: use 100 cups to build a Christmas tree
We were given 100 plastic cups in a group. We had to work together to build a Christmas tree using all 100 cups. We looked at the shape of Christmas trees and noticed that they started off wider at the bottom and got narrower as we got to the top. We used pompoms to decorate the tree after successfully building it. This activity linked to length and height, shape and symmetry.
- Activity 2: create a jingle bell maze
We were given a range of resources to create a maze that a jingle bell could be moved around in. We had to think about the positioning of pipe cleaners and how to stick objects down without disrupting the movement of the jingle bell. This activity linked to position and direction, shape, and length and height.
- Activity 3: create a parachute for Santa
We were challenged with creating a safe way for Santa to get down the chimney. We decided to make a parachute using napkins, paper plates and string. We had to attach the string equally to help the balance of the parachute when descending. This activity mainly linked to time, position and direction, and length and height.
- Activity 4: Christmas geome-trees decorations
We were given net templates to create a range of Christmas decorations. We had to decorate the nets of 3D shapes and figure out how to create the objects by gluing the tabs carefully so as not to crush the card shape. We then figured out how to attach string, to make this into a hanging Christmas decoration. This activity linked to shape and symmetry.
- Activity 5: create 3D Christmas shapes
We were set the task of creating 3D Christmas shapes using cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows. We had to attach the mini marshmallows to cocktail sticks and then connect them to create different shapes. We created objects such as: Christmas trees, presents and Santa’s sleigh. This activity linked to shape, symmetry, length and height, and area and perimeter.
